Sustainable Growth of Shrimp Aquaculture Through Biofloc Production as Alternative to Fishmeal in Shrimp Feeds

Abstract

As capture fisheries are now fully exploited in Egypt, aquaculture is considered the only source for meeting the demand of seafood for rapidly growing populations in Egypt. To meet these demands for seafood, aquaculture has to grow fast and to be more intensive. Fishmeal sources from capture fisheries are fully exploited and thus become costly ingredient in fish and crustacean feed formulations. The present study evaluated biofloc technology as a sustainable alternative to fishmeal in the shrimp feeds using cheap carbon source for stimulation of the microbial biofloc growth, in addition to reduce protein content of the shrimp feeds. The shrimp were fed on three different diets (Control 45% CP, BF 25.10 and BF 30.10 ). The shrimp were cultured for 150 days. The water quality in biofloc-based pond was maintained with the promotion and development of biofloc through rice bran addition during the experiment. At the end of the experiment, the total yields of the shrimp in the two biofloc treatments were significantly higher than those of the shrimp in the control group (P < 0.05). The results indicated that promoting biofloc through carbohydrate addition in culture systems could enhance growth performance and water quality of cultured shrimp under the conditions of the present study. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly (P < 0.05) differed among treatments compared to control diet (1.51 ± 0.11; 1.66 ± 0.13 and 1.80 ± 0.10 for BF 25.10 ; BF 30.10 and control, respectively). There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in shrimp mean final weight between treatments and control diet (37.10 ± 2.22 g; 35.31 ± 1.52 g and 33.24 ± 2.17 g for BF 25.10 ; BF 30.10 and control, respectively). Mean survival (70 ± 8.30%; 66 ± 9.10% and 57 ± 11.00%, for BF 30.10 ; BF 25.10 and control, respectively. was significantly differed among treatments compared to control diet. The data suggests that substituting high-protein (Control 45% CP) with low-protein (BF 25.10 and BF 30.10 ) feed in a biofloc dominated system operated with minimal discharge may provide an alternative to improve shrimp farming technology, through improved water quality, cheaper (lower protein) feed and reduced environmental impact. The biochemical composition of the biofloc treatments did not vary significantly. Biofloc grown on BF 25.10 had higher protein content (23 ± 7 % DW) than BF 30.10 treatment (18 ± 5 %DW). The composition of the PUFAs in the biofloc showed that the treatment of biofloc with BF 25.10 contained significantly more total n-3 PUFA and total n-6 PUFA than that with treatment of BF 30.10 . The results of the present study proofed that biofloc is a possible additional nutritious aquaculture feed for shrimp.

Effect of Probiotics and Carbon Sources on Growth Performance and Survival of Indian White Shrimp (Fenneropenaeus Indicus) Under Biofloc Technology

“…Survival of the control and Barley flour treatments was highest than in the other treatments. This results are in agreement with numerous studies have reported enhanced survival, health, and growth rates of shrimp raised in ponds with high activity of algae, microbial flocs, and other natural biota (Cuzon et al, 2004;and Wasielesky et al, 2006;Mohamed 2014 andMegahed et al, 2018).…”

“…Starvation, which was caused by the poor feed accessibility, likely triggered the cannibalistic behavior of the shrimp (FAO, 2003). Application of carbohydrate improves growth rate in F. indicus (Megahed and Mohamed, 2014;Megahed et al, 2018) L. vannamei (Serra et al, 2015) and in P. monodon (Anand, et al, 2017) and Biofloc used as a natural food for the cultured shrimp (Burford et al, 2004) apart from being a source of bioactive compounds and growth promoters (Ju et al, 2008;Megahed and Mohamed, 2014;Megahed et al,2018). Moreover, digestive enzyme secretions from many probiotic bacteria like Bacillus, Lactobacillus in the carbohydrate added groups might have improved the shrimp growth performance (Ringo, et al, 2012;Anand et al, 2014;Megahed and Mohamed, 2014;Megahed et al 2018).…”

Rearing of the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei in a biofloc system: The effects of different food sources and salinity levels

“…A balanced diet produced by the biofloc system can be used as alternative feed in marine shrimp farming to reduce dependence on fish meal and fish oil in nutrition (Megahed & Mohamed, ). Studies have been proven that shrimp culture in a biofloc system increases growth to 15% and decreases feed conversion ratio to 40% (Wasielesky, Atwood, Stokes, & Browdy, ; Xu & Pan, , ).…”

“…A balanced diet produced by the biofloc system can be used as alternative feed in marine shrimp farming to reduce dependence on fish meal and fish oil in nutrition (Megahed & Mohamed, 2014).…”

Microbial metagenomics in aquaculture: a potential tool for a deeper insight into the activity

“…The use of microbial biofilms and bioflocs as direct food sources has exhibited a vigorous growth accompanied by successful results over the last decade (De Schryver et al 2008;Crab et al 2012;Megahed & Mohamed 2014;Mart ınez-C ordova et al 2015). For example, yield production of fish and shrimp can be doubled when bioflocs are combined with formulated feed because they are a rapidgrowing source of not only protein but also vitamins and lipids (depending on their composition) (Kuhn et al 2009;Emerenciano et al 2012).…”